While Carson fought to save John's life in the jumper, Dr Petersen had joined Zelenka, in the hopes that between the two of them-they could free Rodney and Ronon from their imposed prison. Ronon paced like a caged wild tiger while Rodney sat-dejected, against the wall. It had been almost four hours in a room with nothing to do.
"I feel sick, my hypoglycemia is kicking in-I need something to eat!" whined Rodney for the seventh time in an hour. He had already consumed his and Ronon's two power bars.
Ronon stopped pacing and a devious smile lit his face. "I can cut out your tongue and feed it to you?"
"Hahaha...very funny, chalk one up for Conan the Barbarian." Rodney chided, then got serious. ""You wouldnt, would you?" Ronon just smiled.
"You know, I am to blame for all this" Rodney said guiltily.
Ronon nodded in agreement, continuing to pace. "Yeah, McKay-Sheppard told you not to touch anything." Rodney looked up, horrified at the blunt honesty.
"Sometimes my arrogance gets me in trouble or makes things worse." Rodney confessed. "I never meant for John to get hurt."
"I know, McKay. Learn from this. We all make mistakes-but if you dont learn anything from it-then I may just have to shoot you," Ronon added flippantly. Rodney detected no ill will and sighed in relief.
"Huh, words of wisdom." He looked up at Ronon. "Thanks, Ronon. Do you think Sheppard will forgive me?"
"Sheppard always forgives you, why would this time be different?" Ronon speculated "Hope he and Teyla are alright."
Rodney nodded solemnly "Hope they are too."
Uh, Radek-how long have has it been since Dr McKay accessed the Ancient computer and the doors shut?"
Radek detected a level of anxiety in Dr Petersen's question. " It has been over three and a half, closer to four hours. Why?"
"I just decoded a encrypted security code. When Dr McKay activated the console without the proper password, an embedded security protocol not only shut the door to the office, but also initiated a self-destruct sequence." He looked up fearfully at Radek.
"What are you saying, Doug?" Radek decided to be more personal, since he was sensing paramount disaster.
"Radek, the security protocol started a self-destruct which started immediately and is counting down from approximately six of our Earth hours. We have less than two hours-give or take, before this facility implodes!"
Radek's mouth dropped open as he frantically keyed his ear com.
"WHAT?" Rodney shouted, as he jumped up, hypoglycemia forgotten.
'No, no, no, no, no! That cant be right-get Petersen to check again!
"He already double checked, Rodney. We need to get out of here in less than two hours. Doug is working on bypassing the door security."
"Who's Doug?" Rodney asked without thinking.
Radek rolled his eyes, as did Doug. "Dr Petersen, Rodney-Dr Douglas Petersen."
"Okay-sorry-under pressure here!" Now Rodney was pacing opposite Ronon. "Any word from Carson about Sheppard and Teyla?"
Radek cursed "Yes, Rodney...Teyla is fine, some minor bruising."
"Great!" Rodney was happy about that, but Radek hadnt mentioned how Sheppard was and his heart skipped. Before he could ask, Ronon spoke up, "How's Sheppard?"
"I'm afraid his last report was not good." Radek hated being the bearer of bad news.
No wanting to field any more questions he was afraid to answer, Radek reminded them that time was of the essence. Against protests, a thousand questions about the Major and for his own peace of mind so he could concentrate, Radek removed his ear com.
An hour passed. The doors suddenly opened. Without any fanfare, Rodney and Ronon raced for the transporter. Once at the surface, they found Radek, Doug and Lt. Connors'team waiting for them so they could leave the ancient base before it blew. Doug was sure the self destruct countdown was close to its end as an alarm started to blare non-stop.
Lt. Connors ordered everyone to the jumper ASAP. Rodney hesitated, so much information would be lost, they were this close to obtaining the information that would make the difference for their future. Now there was no time to find any stored ZedPM's or harvest the information on how the Ancient's produced them.
Ronon gave him a push towards the door, Rodney was about to complain but saw Ronon's set jaw. Reluctantly, he followed the soldiers out, Ronon bringing up the rear, hurrying Rodney along, worried about the impending fate of the base would begin before they were safely away.
The jumper was just about to enter the event horizon of the orbitting gate, when a flash was seen on the planet surface in the proximity of the base location, confirming the destruction of the Ancient base and all the knowledge it held.
Rodney couldnt help thinking to himself "What a waste, they were this close! This close!"
TBC Hope that last bit made sense (hint, hint)? Well-Rodney really screwed up and has noone else to blame but himself. Next chapter back to Atlantis to find out how John is.